Dhimal homestay established in Matigaun

By Our Correspondent,Urlabari (Morang), Jan. 20: Belbari Municipality has constructed a Dhimal Living Museum and a homestay facility at Matigaun-10 to honour the Dhimal community, recognised as the area’s first citizens. 

Construction of the homestay has been completed, while work on the living museum is under way.

The Dhimal community, traditionally residing only in the Tarai areas of Morang and Jhapa, has been declared the “first citizens” by Belbari, Pathari-Shanishchare and Damak municipalities in eastern part of the country. 

The Dhimal Living Museum and homestay have been developed to showcase the community’s customs, traditions, dress, food and culture. Matigaun of Belbari-10 is regarded as the capital of the Dhimal community.

According to Jogendra Dhimal, chairperson of the Matigaun Tole Development Committee, Matigaun is the only Dhimal settlement in the country where 121 households live together in a single village. 

He said 10 houses were selected for the homestay programme, of which five -- belonging to Surya Bahadur, Suryamaya, Sakendra, Nagendra and Jogendra Dhimal -- have already been prepared.

The homestays were built at a total cost of Rs. 326,763. Belbari Municipality provided a grant of Rs. 200,000, while the remaining Rs. 126,763 was contributed by the local community. Each of the five houses has two to three bedrooms with attached toilets.

Jogendra Dhimal said the homestay will not only help spread the cultural identity of the Dhimal community across the country but also create employment opportunities for women who are traditionally engaged in household work.

Padam Dhimal, 75, said that Dhimals, who were once landowners in Jhapa and Morang, have now become landless due to the community’s failure to strengthen itself economically. “I once owned three bighas of land. Now I am landless. I only have a small plot to put up a hut,” he said.

After the homestay comes into operation, a Dhimal museum will be built so that the community’s culture and traditions can be viewed in one courtyard, Jogendra Dhimal said. 

The museum and a community building will be constructed on nine kathas of land at Maharajthan, associated with Rajajwala Dhimal, in Matigaun, Belbari-10.

Belbari Mayor Dil Prasad Rai informed that the country’s first Dhimal homestay will formally begin operations from January 24. He said that once the living museum is completed, Matigaun will emerge as a new tourist destination. 

“We have introduced this programme so that people can recognise, understand and study a century-old community in one place,” Rai said, adding that it would help raise social and economic awareness within the Dhimal community while promoting self-employment and self-reliance.

Visitors to the homestay will be able to enjoy traditional Dhimal dishes such as chichiribat, bagiya, gendro, chudur, toye and keyam. 

Traditional attire such as petani, household tools used in daily labour and agricultural implements will also be on display. Local resident Lakimaya Dhimal said preparations are under way to welcome guests in Dhimal's cultural style and entertain them with traditional songs and dances.